The whole thing was disgraceful. They weren't going after the real Communists in this country. Mainly the artists. A lot of them weren't even party members any more -- if they had ever been party members.

But many of those attacked were active union members in Hollywood.

More and more I wonder what the hell Hoover, McCarthy, and Robert Welch were really doing. For it is they who tore the fabric of our democracy -- not the people they attacked.

Archie thinks that one of the reasons nothing is done even though it is apparent that many of us are under attack is that self-serving intelligence agencies in different countries have sort of an under-the-counter deal. They attack citizens in each other's countries, and then they each get funding to combat what the other is doing. The Government hushes it up under the pretext that it is sensitive if another country is involved.

Then military contractors use the attacks -- that they pretend they can't stop -- to siphon money into their own pockets. The people of their countries pay the price.

The common goal of Fascists and Communist dictatorships -- the eradication of free discourse and moderate and liberal approaches -- too often ignored in the histories of what happened.

Last week I had a long conversation with my old friend who was an intelligence officer during the War. Since our last conversation, he has been talking with some of his old colleagues. He was able to confirm that there have been people who have talked with the intelligence agencies about some of the things that are happening. The problem is how difficult it is to convincingly document it. People are asked what their evidence is, and they don't have it.

One friend who had good contacts got a little further. Although his source did not confirm that anything was actually happening, he claimed that the American people would be scared if they found out something like this was happening, that they wouldn't be able to deal with it.

"Rubbish," I said. "If that is our Government's attitude, I would be very concerned about who they are. It denies people their right to advocate for the control of these technologies It allows experimentation on whole populations without their knowledge. People are being denied their right to protect themselves."

I remembered how during the cold war, people were prepared for nuclear attacks. We had bomb shelters. We always kept enough groceries and water on hand. There were drills, advice on what to do in case of attacks.